Dan J. Kroeff had been with the company for more than ten years and so far the Holiday Parties have been relatively boring. This year was starting just the same. Sitting in the up scale beach front hotel bar, waiting for the announcement that they would be seating for dinner in the banquet room, he was making his plan for an early escape. His only worry was that the higher-ups would want to talk to him after the customary rah-rah speeches that always followed dessert and since the head of his department was a no show due to the flu going around, he would be the one they would want to see.
"I hate these fucking parties," he said out loud, taking another drink of his Vodka Martini.
He couldn't even look forward to meeting any women at this get together as the majority of the women working at the company were either married or gay. The only single women were way too young and he didn't want to take the chance of a sexual harassment suit so his prospects were nil. He scanned the faces in the crowded bar and sure enough most worked at his company. He could see that they were sporting the same silly name tags he had on. Dan was hoping he would at least get to see some of the women in pantyhose tonight but that too was turning out to be a lost cause. Most were in short dress or skirts of varying lengths but only one or two had hose on and they were old enough to be his grand mother. He signaled the waitress for another drink when a man approached his small table.
"Hey Dan, Karl Nelson," the man said holding out his hand.
Dan shook his hand and invited him to sit. He didn't recognize Karl by sight but he knew who he was. Karl worked as a consultant for the IT department but lived in Arizona, so Dan was surprised to see him here.
"Have you seen the VP of your IT department here tonight? I need to talk to him before things get going."
"I wouldn't even know him if he was standing in front of me...sorry," Dan replied. Dan had chatted with Karl in the past about work related things via email or IM's and imagined him to be more 'geeky' than he actually was. Karl was going on about some project items he needed addressed when Dan saw her walk up to the busy bar. It was then Karl stood and momentarily blocked his view.
"He just walked in, I'll talk to ya later," Karl said then disappeared into the crowd before Dan could respond.
Dan couldn't believe his eyes. He gazed upon her beautiful form and didn't miss a detail. Her dress was a strapless silver sequin number that stopped just above her knees with a black nylon top covering her up to the neck and down to her wrists. She wore silver open toe pumps and her legs shimmered in sheer tan pantyhose. Her shoulder length blonde hair glistened like polished gold in the over head lighting. Dan had a tough time tearing his eyes away from her magnificent legs, they had a velvety luster from the expensive hosiery she had on. The best part was she wasn't wearing a name tag, so he might have a chance to get to know her better.
After a few minutes, Dan stood and made his way to her. His eyes kept returning to her firm shapely legs. She was about 5'-9" without the 3" heels so her legs just seemed to go on forever. She watched him approach.
"Hi...I was admiring you lovely dress. You look fantastic," Dan said smiling broadly.
"Thank you, but the way you were starring at my legs, I'm surprised you even noticed my dress," she responded with a cynical grin.
"Sorry...I didn't mean to stare. You do have incredible legs," he tried to hide his embarrassment; "My name is Dan."
"That's ok...Helen," she said holding out her hand.
Dan took her hand and asked, "Are you here for the Christmas Party?"
"Yes...I'm supposed to meet my husband here, but I haven't seen him."
Dan maintained his smile but inside he was shouting,
'DAMN IT!'
He knew it was too good to be true that she would be here alone. He was saved from any further uncomfortable conversation when they announced seating had begun in the banquet room.
"I'm not sure where I'm supposed to go," Helen said looking around for her spouse.
"Come with me. He'll find you inside."
She and Dan followed the crowd to the large festively decorated room and found a table near the door so Helen could see her husband when he entered. He was about to leave her when Karl reappeared.
"There you are, I didn't see you in the bar," he said to Helen, giving her a kiss on the cheek.